Reader Responses to The 0.3 Percent

How encouraging it was to read about the small group of military veterans who are Brown students. These young men and women embody maturity, self-discipline, and patriotism—virtues that contrast starkly with those of the vandals who destroyed the flags erected to commemorate Veteran’s Day. That the vandals had no knowledge that November 11 was Veteran’s/Armistice Day reveals their historical ignorance. That they were not dismissed for such conduct and that President Paxson had to be “urged” to denounce the destruction illuminates the gulf between the values veterans bring to the University and those that all too often reflect prevailing attitudes on campus. Let’s hope that the veterans continue to “make a big stink” to keep more of them coming to Brown.

I had classmates in Navy ROTC who could not have attended Brown without their ROTC scholarships. Several of them went on to distinguished careers in the military. Despite my doubts about the war in the age of the draft, I ended up serving in the U.S. Air Force and was able to make it a positive experience in many ways. Friends from Brown and the USAF include people of all political persuasions who share mutual respect. As one “good ole boy” career airman told me, “I’m fighting for your right to disagree with me.”

Even though I grew to strongly oppose the Vietnam War while on active duty, I was dismayed to watch Brown eliminate its ROTC programs. Along with the elimination of the draft and the creation of an all-volunteer military, I fear we have turned into a dangerously compartmentalized society. To see recent veterans being welcomed is a step in the right direction.

The flag incident gives credence to the myth of college students spitting on soldiers returning from Vietnam, something that the documentary Sir, No Sir! showed actually came from a Rambo movie. Alas, it reminds me of an experience I had in 1980 working on Ted Kennedy’s primary campaign in California. At a victory party in West Hollywood, I ended up sitting across the table from a young Brown graduate who proclaimed “only stupid people went to Vietnam.” I burned inside with the memory of friends who died there. 

In 1970 Ted Kennedy wrote to me that he supported the draft because it produced a diverse military. I didn’t agree at the time, but I did see in the military, in 25 years of working on motion picture sets, and in 10 years of teaching in immigrant communities, that a well-functioning society needs and values a wide variety of people.

I am reminded of a remarkable moment during freshman week in 1964 when we were told that our entering class had the highest GPAs and College Board scores ever at Brown, but that no group had ever outperformed the veterans who attended on the GI Bill after WWII.

As an alumnus who attended Brown following military service in Vietnam and who, according to my VA case worker, represented the only post-military student at Brown during the entirety of the period of my matriculation, I applaud Brown’s efforts to attract post-military students and to assist these students in addressing special circumstances. I would certainly be remiss, however, if I did not note that attending Brown upon my return to civilian life was one of the best decisions I could have made, despite the absence of any formal on-campus support program.

I very much enjoyed your article on veterans at Brown. I always felt it was a mistake for Brown to have thrown ROTC off campus—doing so didn’t have any positive effect on the military, and a case easily can be made that fixing perceived ills in the military would be more likely to happen with more Brown graduates as officers, not fewer. Your article showed that the reverse also is true—Brown is a better place with more students who have been in the military. Echo chambers—either within the military, or within the Brown community—serve no good purpose.

I was a member of the last NROTC program at Brown, commissioned in a ceremony on campus in June 1972. There were about eight of us left. Most who read this will not recall, but 1968 to 1972 may have been the most divisive and radicalized time to be on a college campus. We had the war in full rage, the walkout, Kent State, assassinations. Occasionally, I would have to wear my midshipman’s uniform. Here is what makes Brown special: Not a single time was I ever harshly met, pointed out, or harassed in any way whatsoever, even by the most radicalized classmates, many of whom were friends. There was a spirit of tolerance, acceptance of personal decisions and choices, even actually appreciating an officer with education such as I received. It is gratifying to see an appreciation of veterans, and of the kind of education that schools like Brown provide to future military officers, returning to campus.

I’m always happy to see anything about vets or ROTC in the BAM, and the last issue highlighted current vet experiences in a balanced way.

Unfortunately, the article (“The 0.3 percent,” Nov/Dec) perpetuates a foggy picture regarding ROTC. The statement that “students had to do ROTC or other military programs at nearby schools, including Providence College, which Brown now partners with for ROTC” implies that there has been structural change. But Brown has “partnered” with PC for decades. Any changes in ROTC policy have been small, though helpful, and I think largely due to Ms. McNeil’s efforts. 

The bare fact is that Brown does not have ROTC on campus. This ancient policy has existed since 1969, when a faculty group sent a letter to the Trustees demanding ROTC be removed. A student wishing to participate in ROTC has had to enroll in programs at other schools all the decades since. For Army ROTC, the commute is to PC. For Navy and Air Force, it’s two schools in Massachusetts, both about an hour’s drive. How inclined would you be to sign up for Art History if it meant you had to travel an hour each way to class?

Until Brown reinstates proper Army, Navy, and Air Force ROTC programs, its claims of diversity remain somewhat hollow. Next year will be the 50th year since ROTC was kicked off campus. Today, even U.C. Berkeley hosts ROTC, as well as other Ivy League schools. President Obama encouraged all colleges to reinstate ROTC. Everyone seems to get it. Isn’t it about time for Brown?